In this study, I’m going to do a character study of Curley’s wife and the role of women. I’m going to study how Curley’s wife acts and how she behaves. I will also write about what she says and what other character’s say about her, and their reactions about her. This essay is supposed to show you what Curley’s wife does and how the people react to it. This is a great novel by John Steinbeck to show the differences of the role of women and how they talked.
Most importantly to see what I’ve learnt from this extraordinary novel.Steinbeck introduced Curley’s wife as a tart. And if Curley’s using her for sex-glove full of Vaseline. Steinbeck introduced Curley’s wife, when Candy was telling George and Lennie ‘she’s purty, but got the eye’. This gives me the impression that Curley’s wife is not really in love with Curley and that she gives a lot of the men on the branch the eye. In doing so Curley’s wife is lonely, she had no-one to talk to (this is because no ladies are on the branch). When she believes she could of made something of her-self in the movie industry. So in a way this makes her look like her tart, but in fact she is lonely.
Steinbeck makes it sound as if Curley’s wife is worthless and that is absolutely nothing. Steinbeck takes away her name and dignity. Her identity, her dignity, her identity and makes it seem as if she’s another possession of Curley’s. Steinbeck takes all this away this is because in that pacific time, the role of women was a lot different from it now. In those days women couldn’t vote or anything. A women’s job those days were making babies, cooking food, cleaning the house and making there husband’s happy. In those day females had no respect, they had nothing at all. This is why Steinbeck makes Curley’s wife like this, so it can suite the time of the novel.
So in this novel Curley’s wife is known as Curley’s wife. This is because the author took absolutely everything a woman has today.Steinbeck introduces Curley’s wife with no name. Causes in those days’ wives were like an object to their husband. They had nothing at all, apart from their husband’s who didn’t care about them. I know there husbands didn’t care about them because near the end where Lennie accidentally killed Curley’s Wife (breaking her neck). When Curley found his wife dead his first priority was to kill Lennie, even though Slim advised Curley to stay with his wife.
It shows me that Curley didn’t have no love for his wife; he just took it as someone stole valuables from him. This shows me that marriages never had any love, especially from the husband. It also tells me that the ladies were used for pacific things that the husband needs.Curley’s wife flirts with other men, this is basically because she is attention-seeking. Curley’s life is miserable and boring, mainly because they’re no one that can interact with her (females). So in return she flashes her body of to the men and tries to catch their attention. Plus she is not in love with Curley- I know this because near the end she tells Lennie that Curley is a mean man and that his hair is like wire.
Curley’s wife is known as a tart from the workers because she likes to show her body of and she’s got the eye. Curley’s wife is also know from the workers, as ‘she’s jail bait. She is know as ‘jail bait’ because she could get a lot of the men in trouble-she could do this by telling Curley and Curley telling his dad the boss.This is in page 50-55. Curley’s wife comes in and you now know she’s definitely a tart because it says ‘she puts her hand behind her back and leaned forward, against the door frame , so that her body is thrown forward.
She does this to get men to like her, turned on and obviously there attention. In a way she’s bored, got nothing to do so she tries to start conversations and get the full attention. When Curley’s wife found out that Lennie was slow. She started to play about with him-with her words. She was taking advantage of Lennie, even though she knew he wasn’t listening she threw all of her emotions at him telling him what she could of done and her life story. Lennie didn’t care about what she was saying he thought she was purty and nice.
In those day there was a lot of sexism, this is because females in those day were like a possession to their husbands. I n those days men were the dominant sex, men made girls stay at home men expected food when they came back from work, men expected for the house to be clean, men expected for their children to be take care of , men expected to have sex when ever they wanted. This isn’t fair but Curley’s wife had to deal with it. That’s why she gives other men the eye. Curley/s wife had her own path in life but her mum stopped.
So she just married Curley for the sake of it. Sexism was discriminated towards women, but in those days men didn’t care, and ladies were scared to say anything.Curley’s wife has hatred towards her husband Curley and especially hatred towards her mother. The reason for hating Curley is cause she really never loved him.
The reason for hating her mother is cause she says ‘ I live right in Salinas. Come there when I was a kid. Well a show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me.
She says because I was on’y fifteen. But the guy says I could. If I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet’.
And the next time she had the chance to make it big she said’ Nother time I met a guy, an he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna writ about it. I never got the letter. I always thought my ol’ lady stole it.Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t go nowhere or make something for myself, an where they stole my letters.
I ast her if she stole it and she says no’. then later on she married Curley out of frustration. So as you can see they way the talked at that present time she really has hatred for her mother. She hates her mother cause she believes her mother spoiled her dream twice in her life. She believed if her mother had given her the chance she could of made it to the movies and wouldn’t be living on the branch.She believed she would have bee..
rich. She also believes her mother ‘s action made her marry Curley even though she has no feeling towards him. But what I want to know is that if her mother did steal those letters or did the guy was exaggerating. She believed her mother stole those letters cause her mother refused to let her go the first time- but her mother refused because her mother thought the she was to young. But why would her mother steal those letter for what reasons her mother has no reason. Or if Curley’s wife is just lashing out her anger on her mother cause the guy never sent the letter. In doesn’t tell you in the book, people will have different opinions but I believe no one will ever be right.
ConclusionFinally my conclusion is that to me John Steinback writing skills inspired me to think that all these characters are real flesh + a real person. It made me believe that Lennie and George did live and have done all this. His writing is so extraordinary. So unique and so understandable. Not a lot of books can be compared to ‘Mice and Men’. Cause all the other books don’t sound realistic-like ‘harry potter.
But ‘Mice Men’ makes think it’s an extraordinary life of two men in the past when its not John Steinback description of places is unbelievable, when he describes the Salinas River in the beginning of the book. It really makes you believe all this happened in the past. Not a lot of writers can do that. while you reading your emotions change like in the beginning your calm.But when Curley gets into a fight with Lennie your hearts thumping and you really want to know what happens next. And in the end when Curley’s wife is chatting and you’re really suspicious cause you know she’s jail bait and you know something big is going to happen. My thought towards the book is good I sometimes think how Lennie and George’s life were but then I realise that they weren’t real.
But the book fascinates me. During the book Curley’s wife character develops in beginning she really makes herself look like a whore and that she is desperate to get attention. But while you go into the book you see that she is a trapped girl on a men’s branch. You also realise she’s bored got nothing to do. So she walks around the branch all day trying to get attention.I really feel sorry for her cause she had a dream which all most came true but got shattered by her ‘mother’ and that she really want attention and to get the attention she acts like a whore.
I really did fell sorry for this girl. I felt sorry when Lennie accidentally killed her. She didn’t deserve to die like that. I also felt sorry for her cause she was having sex with a man she didn’t love and that people said bad stuff about her, when really she was pleading for attention.
The book really inspired me and before I read this book I never heard of John Steinback now I classify him of one of my favourite writers. This book of’ Mice and Men’ is a fascinating book and has taught me a lot of things. I would also like to say John Steinback’s description of Curley’s wife is a magnificent piece of work.
